


selfishness

by determination



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: (its me im gentiana), Gen, gentiana beats up ardyn, gentiana gets angry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 17:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17854025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/determination/pseuds/determination
Summary: Gentiana week day 2prompts: clairvoyance; "Humans are selfish creatures."





	selfishness

**Author's Note:**

> tw: violence? it's not super graphic because idk how to write violence but...yeah it's there lol  
> this mostly spawned from me being fed up with all the a*dyn stuff and people being like "ardyn is a pure cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong" lmao..... so i channeled my anger into gentiana :')  
> (if you like ardyn, that's fine i don't care, i was mostly just frustrated by people acting like he's completely innocent of anything, y'know, disregarding the fact that he's a complex VILLAIN)

Gentiana isn't sure why she came. Rather, a small, irrational part of her does know, but her rational mind would prefer to remind her why this was a dangerous risk to take in the first place. Should she be found by anyone other than the man she had come to meet, it would send a warning throughout Niflheim. Her presence would do more harm than good. Though, she reasons there is little good to be done anyway, especially where he is involved.

Thankfully, her existence as a Messenger makes it almost too easy to infiltrate the Niflheim base. And she supposes she should be grateful, too, to his existence as the Accursed. It makes it that much easier to locate him and avoid even more unnecessary risk in a prolonged search. 

She finds him occupied, in a meeting with Verstael Besithia, whom she unfortunately recognizes. She does not make her presence known to them, instead waiting patiently - or perhaps impatiently - until her target leaves the room and makes his way elsewhere, to an empty room. 

Unsurprisingly, he had noticed her, despite her efforts to conceal herself. She assumed he would, as he is one of very few who had come to recognize the signs of the Messenger's appearance.

"Ah, the Glacian herself. And what an honor it is." Ardyn's smarmy grin sends pinpricks of rage through Gentiana's whole body, a heat which could rival even Ifrit's own. Only a few words and she already feels vindicated in her snap judgment to come here. Good man though he had once been, the man who stands before her is more than reprehensible. "Pray, do tell why you've decided to grace a lowly chancellor such as myself with your presence." He removes his hat and bows. Gentiana resists the urge to slap the hat out of his hand before he can replace it upon his head. 

She gives him a cold appraisal. "I presume that means you cannot hazard a guess," she murmurs.

"Alas, I'm fresh out of ideas." Ardyn's smile doesn't falter, a devilish glint in his eyes. "Give me a hint, won't you?"

A hint, he says. 

Gentiana recalls the vision that had come to her, foretelling the atrocities this man would unleash upon the world. Each life lost, the faces of each innocent victim; the bloodshed, the reign of darkness. And perhaps worst of all, she remembers the rage and sorrow that surged through her as she watched him take the Oracle's life from her, watched the life drain from Lunafreya's body until she became nothing but speckles of light. 

It fills her with an indescribable feeling. Though she knows none of it has come to pass yet, and though she knows Lunafreya is still alive, she cannot bear to think that this shameful excuse for a man would be the one to extinguish the Oracle's light.

_ A hint _ , he says. 

She had originally come simply to talk to him, however...

Anger bubbles under Gentiana's skin, energy which she channels into the formation of a long, sharp icicle held in one of her hands. 

"I can do you one better," she says, and before Ardyn can start to process what's happening, she lunges at him.

"Aha," he utters, letting out a harsh laugh, "you're cross with me, then." He winces when she catches him, icy weapon pressed against his neck. 

"I would tell you to perish," she hisses and jabs the icicle tip further against Ardyn's throat, with enough force that would make any normal person bleed, "but that would be giving you what you want, and you are far from deserving. Were you not a plague upon Eos, I would damn you to suffer for all eternity. You would never escape my wrath."

"Biting words," Ardyn grits out, his grin taking on a hint of unease; "You're too kind, I'm sure." He sputters into silence when Gentiana pierces the icy spear through his skin, dragging it down his neck in a slow, deliberate fashion.

"Did I give you permission to speak, worm?" She gives him a dainty smile as she abruptly adjusts her grip and stabs the icicle directly into Ardyn's chest. She relishes the choked groan that escapes him, further delighting in his agonized expression as she twists the spear until she feels it break the skin of his back. "Immortal though you may be," she says sweetly, "Pain is nothing foreign to you."

Ardyn pants, bracing himself against the wall behind him. "Surely you don't intend to fight me, Glacian." His voice is strained, another grunt of alarm lodging in his throat as Gentiana releases the icicle she'd been holding and conjures another, which she presses to his cheek. 

"Fight? No." She shakes her head, a twinkling laugh leaving her lips. "Even with all of your dirty tricks and darkest allies, you stand nary a chance against a Messenger, let alone a God."  Leaving a gash with the flick of her wrist, she goes on, "Or would you like to test your chances? You could not lay a hand on me if you tried." 

Ardyn seems to weigh his options, eyes following the movement of Gentiana's icy weapon. Then, many things happen in quick succession: Ardyn summons a sword into his free hand; he slashes toward Gentiana with inhuman speed; before his weapon even comes close to touching her, Gentiana freezes his arm, sword and all; and with the fury of a raging blizzard, she grabs Ardyn by the frozen arm and shatters it against the wall. The guttural noise he lets out is music to her ears. 

In a swift movement, she pushes him against the wall and forces her icicle deeper through him, effectively pinning him there. His face has grown ashen, his breath labored as he tries to hold her gaze, his defiance from before long gone. 

"I gave you fair warning." She observes him coldly, twirling her icy spear in one hand. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot harm me, nor can you escape. And shall I tell you why?"

"I reckon you'll tell me whether or not I want to hear it," Ardyn growls, though the words lack any real bite. 

"Because," she pointedly goes on, "I move just like you. Whether you run or warp - any place you think you are safe, I will follow. Any moment you hesitate is the exact moment that I shall spell your doom. And for each attempt, I will do again what I have just done to your arm. First your feet, your legs, followed by your other arm. I will dispose of you one limb at a time, and then I will move on to your torso and face. I don't suppose you've ever wondered what it would feel like to have both of your ears frozen and torn off."

"And why, exactly, does the Glacian herself desire to destroy me?" Ardyn attempts another grin, but it comes out a grimace. "Surely this goes beyond the whole Scourge business."

Gentiana laughs. "I believe you do know, accursed king of darkness. But perhaps I have given you too much credit, and you are stupider for having lived this long. It does not seem impossible that a human brain would decay over the course of two thousand years, should a human live that long." Pausing, she makes a show of thoughtfully putting together her response, at the end of which she suddenly takes the other icicle and stabs it through Ardyn's hand, pinning it, too, to the wall. 

"Humans are selfish creatures," she speaks slowly, ensuring that Ardyn will be forced to comprehend every word that leaves her mouth. "Shiva thought so. She saw their nature for what it was, eyes unclouded by the favoritism Ifrit showed them. She came to love them as he did, but she never forgot the core of humanity, the greed, the disdain for others. That would always lead them astray."

"Like an Astral has any right to talk," Arydn snorts derisively. 

"Yes," Gentiana smiles, "the Astrals are selfish. Shiva would argue that such selfishness is incomparable. For the Astrals would act for the better of Eos, where humanity thinks only of itself. It is a God's duty to consider the good of world; a human only acts to benefit himself."

"If he has been maltreated, is he wrong to do so?" In spite of himself, Ardyn seems keen to continue the pointless debate. "Is he not justified in seeking vengeance?"

Gentiana shakes her head, chuckling. "Perhaps. Then... In that case, tell me why it is that he should wrong others in the same way. Tell me why he should threaten the entire world for the sake of his petty vengeance. Tell me  _ why, _ " she enunciates the word as she closes her hands around his throat, "he should claim to desire death, and in the same breath plot the murders of countless innocents?" Hatred blazes in her eyes as she gazes at him. "Hypocrisy is not a becoming look, daemon. You have fallen so low that you cannot see your actions are no different than those which brought upon your own suffering"

Words fail him now, as he quietly grits his teeth. Silence suits him better, she thinks, and allows ice to seep from her fingertips, frost crawling across the pale skin of his neck. 

"Humans are selfish. The Astrals, too, are selfish. Messengers, however, have never deigned to act in their own interest. A Messenger is loyal to the Astrals, faithful to the Oracle." As her grip tightens, cracks begin to form. Ardyn blanches. "But... At this moment, this Messenger believes it is fine to allow a little bit of selfishness." 

"You can't kill me," Ardyn challenges.

"I cannot," Gentiana agrees. "However... I am capable of making you wish I could."

And with finality, she breaks the ice between her fingers. Ardyn's head rolls off his shoulders and hits the floor with a dull thud.


End file.
